The Lost Mirror: Navigation Showdown

I had an errand to run and needed to go out somewhere. It was a place I had been to many times. I knew the roads and the rest stops perfectly, so there was no need to go out of my way to use a car navigation system.

However, this time, I decided to try using the navigation on my smartphone.

I had been testing out smartphone navigation recently, and it is quick to grasp traffic conditions. While car navigation systems have similar features, they are inevitably a step behind. They often fail to grasp information about road construction. In that respect, smartphone navigation is incredible. The traffic avoidance routes are also surprisingly accurate and creative. Unexpected routes have appeared, and I have experienced miraculous detours many times, as if wandering through a maze.

That said, more than the convenience of avoiding traffic jams, I was very impressed by the mechanism of how the smartphone navigation chooses those routes.

The route indicated by my own experienced navigation is also a route I have researched and refined over and over. It is a bypass route that avoids traffic bottlenecks as much as possible and allows me to return to the main road depending on congestion. I generally know the information about convenience stores, restroom quality, and supermarkets where I can stop by. Occasionally, a convenience store disappears or transforms into a ramen shop. My route probably has surprises in a different sense.

Now, where will the smartphone navigation take me?

I decided to experiment without trying to predict the path ahead.

When I started, it was just as I expected, the same as my route...

Huh?

It was in the completely opposite direction. No way!

Thinking, 'Could it be wrong?', I checked it again. It was certainly possible for a careless person like me, but it was entered correctly. I decided to trust it and drive. After all, it was an experiment.

As expected, I eventually entered roads I didn't know. Moreover, they were roads that turned frequently. I like driving, so turning frequently is better than driving straight for a long time because it keeps me from getting sleepy, and above all, it's fun.

Beep beep beep beep beep!
'Turn right at this traffic light!'

Click click click click...

'Turn left at the stop sign!'

Beep beep beep beep beep!

'Follow the road toward ○○!'

Turning left and right, spinning around... I gradually lost track of where I was being taken. I thought I had a general idea of which city I was in, but eventually, I found myself thinking, 'Wait, where am I?' more and more often. It seems I had become a puppet-like lost soul (lol).

'No, no, even so, I should be coming out onto a road I know soon.'

That's what I was thinking, but the estimated arrival time was '10 minutes away'.

"What? Ten minutes left, and I'm still in a place I don't know."

Seven minutes left...

"Take this traffic light diagonally to the left!"

Five minutes left...

"!!!"

"Seriously! So this is where it comes out!"

(And to arrive early, too...)

It was a shocking event, as if a revolution had occurred within me. Or perhaps I should say I felt like I had been swindled. I must review this once I get home. My experiential navigation has suffered a total defeat. I should sign an unequal treaty with my smartphone... (That's irrelevant!)

My experiential car navigation system, based on my driving experience from age 18 to 49—system? What system?—was at a level where I'd label it trash! (Though that might be an exaggeration...)

Even so, it was amazing.

I left home, entered an unknown road about 15 minutes later, and spent about an hour lost until five minutes before arrival. If I had to name an inconvenience, it would be that I couldn't grasp rest stops in advance. I could have just searched for the route on my smartphone, but I simply didn't.

After finishing my errands, I used the smartphone navigation to return home. The return trip was partially different from the outbound route, occasionally taking me along a major national highway. Needless to say, this was also a surprising route. And above all, I got home quickly!

When I reviewed it at home, I noticed something surprising.

When connecting my home and the destination with a straight line, my route was below that line, while the smartphone's route was above it. The top and bottom were almost symmetrical driving routes!

It was as if I were looking into a mirror.

Since it's hard to understand, I tried drawing a picture.

Well, one might say it's obvious, or one might say it's surprising. But when I reviewed it and learned this, I also thought, "My route isn't so bad after all..."

Perhaps car navigation, smartphone navigation, and my own navigation don't end up being that different in the end. The only difference is that my experiential navigation system takes a considerable amount of time to become practical.

Looking back at the process of this battle, I think I put up a good fight. It wasn't a total defeat. If you include the advantage of knowing about rest spots not in the data beforehand, couldn't I have surprisingly brought it to a draw?

It doesn't matter who wins, but
both humans and machines are quite something in their own ways (huh?)

By the way, I happened to stop by a Japanese confectionery shop during a break. The mitarashi dango were delicious, but they only had two stars (☆☆★★★) in the online information.

As I thought, both humans and machines are quite something in their own ways.

That two-star Japanese confectionery shop,
I recommend it (lol)